II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1588 

To secure the Federal voting rights of persons when released from 

incarceration. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 19, 2017 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Mr. 

CASEY, Mr. COONS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. FRANKEN, Ms. 

HARRIS, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. VAN

HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To secure the Federal voting rights of persons when released 

from incarceration. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Democracy Restoration 

5 Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The right to vote is the most basic constitu2 tive act of citizenship. Regaining the right to vote 

3 reintegrates individuals with criminal convictions 

4 into free society, helping to enhance public safety. 

5 (2) Article I, section 4, of the Constitution 

6 grants Congress ultimate supervisory power over 

7 Federal elections, an authority which has repeatedly 

8 been upheld by the United States Supreme Court. 

9 (3) Basic constitutional principles of fairness 

10 and equal protection require an equal opportunity 

11 for citizens of the United States to vote in Federal 

12 elections. The right to vote may not be abridged or 

13 denied by the United States or by any State on ac14 count of race, color, gender, or previous condition of 

15 servitude. The 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 

16 26th Amendments to the Constitution empower Con17 gress to enact measures to protect the right to vote 

18 in Federal elections. The 8th Amendment to the 

19 Constitution provides for no excessive bail to be re20 quired, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and 

21 unusual punishments inflicted. 

22 (4) There are 3 areas where discrepancies in 

23 State laws regarding criminal convictions lead to un24 fairness in Federal elections— 


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1 (A) the lack of a uniform standard for vot2 ing in Federal elections leads to an unfair dis3 parity and unequal participation in Federal 

4 elections based solely on where a person lives; 

5 (B) laws governing the restoration of vot6 ing rights after a criminal conviction vary 

7 throughout the country and persons in some 

8 States can easily regain their voting rights 

9 while in other States persons effectively lose 

10 their right to vote permanently; and 

11 (C) State disenfranchisement laws dis12 proportionately impact racial and ethnic minori13 ties. 

14 (5) Two States do not disenfranchise individ15 uals with criminal convictions at all (Maine and 

16 Vermont), but 48 States and the District of Colum17 bia have laws that deny convicted individuals the 

18 right to vote while they are in prison. 

19 (6) In some States disenfranchisement results 

20 from varying State laws that restrict voting while in21 dividuals are under the supervision of the criminal 

22 justice system or after they have completed a crimi23 nal sentence. In 34 States, convicted individuals may 

24 not vote while they are on parole and 30 of those 

25 States disenfranchise individuals on felony probation 


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1 as well. In 10 States, a conviction can result in life2 time disenfranchisement. 

3 (7) Several States deny the right to vote to in4 dividuals convicted of certain misdemeanors. 

5 (8) An estimated 6,100,000 citizens of the 

6 United States, or about 1 in 40 adults in the United 

7 States, currently cannot vote as a result of a felony 

8 conviction. Of the 6,100,000 citizens barred from 

9 voting, only approximately 22 percent are in prison. 

10 By contrast, roughly 77 percent of the 

11 disenfranchised reside in their communities while on 

12 probation or parole or after having completed their 

13 sentences. Approximately 3,100,000 citizens who 

14 have completed their sentences remain 

15 disenfranchised due to restrictive State laws. In six 

16 States—Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, 

17 Tennessee, and Virginia—more than 7 percent of 

18 the total population is disenfranchised. 

19 (9) In those States that disenfranchise individ20 uals post-sentence, the right to vote can be regained 

21 in theory, but in practice this possibility is often 

22 granted in a non-uniform and potentially discrimina23 tory manner. Disenfranchised individuals must ei24 ther obtain a pardon or an order from the Governor 

25 or an action by the parole or pardon board, dependVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:52 Jul 26, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1588.IS S1588

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1 ing on the offense and State. Individuals convicted 

2 of a Federal offense often have additional barriers to 

3 regaining voting rights. 

4 (10) State disenfranchisement laws dispropor5 tionately impact racial and ethnic minorities. More 

6 than 7 percent of the voting-age African-American 

7 population, or 2,200,000 African-Americans, are 

8 disenfranchised. Currently, 1 of every 13 African9 Americans are rendered unable to vote because of 

10 felony disenfranchisement, which is a rate more than 

11 4 times greater than non-African-Americans. 7.4 

12 percent of African-Americans are disenfranchised 

13 whereas only 1.8 percent of non-African-Americans 

14 are. As of 2016, in 4 States—Florida (23 percent), 

15 Kentucky (22 percent), Tennessee (21 percent), and 

16 Virginia (20 percent)—more than 1 in 5 African17 Americans were unable to vote because of prior con18 victions. 

19 (11) Latino citizens are disproportionately 

20 disenfranchised based upon their disproportionate 

21 representation in the criminal justice system. If cur22 rent incarceration trends hold, 17 percent of Latino 

23 men will be incarcerated during their lifetimes, in 

24 contrast to less than 6 percent of non-Latino White 

25 men. When analyzing the data across 10 States, 


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1 Latinos generally have disproportionately higher 

2 rates of disenfranchisement compared to their pres3 ence in the voting age population. In 6 out of 10 

4 States studied in 2003, Latinos constitute more 

5 than 10 percent of the total number of persons 

6 disenfranchised by State felony laws. In 4 States 

7 (California, 37 percent; New York, 34 percent; 

8 Texas, 30 percent; and Arizona, 27 percent), 

9 Latinos were disenfranchised by a rate of more than 

10 25 percent. 

11 (12) Disenfranchising citizens who have been 

12 convicted of a criminal offense and who are living 

13 and working in the community serves no compelling 

14 State interest and hinders their rehabilitation and 

15 reintegration into society. 

16 (13) State disenfranchisement laws can sup17 press electoral participation among eligible voters by 

18 discouraging voting among family and community 

19 members of disenfranchised persons. Future elec20 toral participation by the children of disenfranchised 

21 parents may be impacted as well. 

22 (14) The United States is the only Western de23 mocracy that permits the permanent denial of voting 

24 rights for individuals with felony convictions. 


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1 SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 

2 The right of an individual who is a citizen of the 

3 United States to vote in any election for Federal office 

4 shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has 

5 been convicted of a criminal offense unless such individual 

6 is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution 

7 or facility at the time of the election. 

8 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 

9 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

10 may, in a civil action, obtain such declaratory or injunctive 

11 relief as is necessary to remedy a violation of this Act. 

12 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person who is aggrieved 

14 by a violation of this Act may provide written notice 

15 of the violation to the chief election official of the 

16 State involved. 

17 (2) RELIEF.—Except as provided in paragraph 

18 (3), if the violation is not corrected within 90 days 

19 after receipt of a notice under paragraph (1), or 

20 within 20 days after receipt of the notice if the viola21 tion occurred within 120 days before the date of an 

22 election for Federal office, the aggrieved person 

23 may, in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunc24 tive relief with respect to the violation. 

25 (3) EXCEPTION.—If the violation occurred 

26 within 30 days before the date of an election for 


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1 Federal office, the aggrieved person need not provide 

2 notice to the chief election official of the State under 

3 paragraph (1) before bringing a civil action to obtain 

4 declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to the 

5 violation. 

6 SEC. 5. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 

7 RIGHTS. 

8 (a) STATE NOTIFICATION.— 

9 (1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 

10 under paragraph (2), each State shall notify in writ11 ing any individual who has been convicted of a 

12 criminal offense under the law of that State that 

13 such individual has the right to vote in an election 

14 for Federal office pursuant to the Democracy Res15 toration Act of 2017 and may register to vote in any 

16 such election. 

17 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 

18 (A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 

19 such an individual who has been convicted of a 

20 felony, the notification required under para21 graph (1) shall be given on the date on which 

22 the individual— 

23 (i) is sentenced to serve only a term 

24 of probation; or 


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1 (ii) is released from the custody of 

2 that State (other than to the custody of 

3 another State or the Federal Government 

4 to serve a term of imprisonment for a fel5 ony conviction). 

6 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

7 case of such an individual who has been con8 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re9 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 

10 the date on which such individual is sentenced 

11 by a State court. 

12 (b) FEDERAL NOTIFICATION.— 

13 (1) NOTIFICATION.—Any individual who has 

14 been convicted of a criminal offense under Federal 

15 law shall be notified in accordance with paragraph 

16 (2) that such individual has the right to vote in an 

17 election for Federal office pursuant to the Democ18 racy Restoration Act of 2017 and may register to 

19 vote in any such election. 

20 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 

21 (A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 

22 such an individual who has been convicted of a 

23 felony, the notification required under para24 graph (1) shall be given— 


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1 (i) in the case of an individual who is 

2 sentenced to serve only a term of proba3 tion, by the Assistant Director for the Of4 fice of Probation and Pretrial Services of 

5 the Administrative Office of the United 

6 States Courts on the date on which the in7 dividual is sentenced; or 

8 (ii) in the case of any individual com9 mitted to the custody of the Bureau of 

10 Prisons, by the Director of the Bureau of 

11 Prisons, during the period beginning on 

12 the date that is 6 months before such indi13 vidual is released and ending on the date 

14 such individual is released from the cus15 tody of the Bureau of Prisons. 

16 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

17 case of such an individual who has been con18 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re19 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 

20 the date on which such individual is sentenced 

21 by a court established by an Act of Congress. 

22 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

23 For purposes of this Act: 

24 (1) CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION OR FACIL25 ITY.—The term ‘‘correctional institution or facility’’ 


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1 means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other institu2 tion or facility for the confinement of individuals 

3 convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly or 

4 privately operated, except that such term does not 

5 include any residential community treatment center 

6 (or similar public or private facility). 

7 (2) ELECTION.—The term ‘‘election’’ means— 

8 (A) a general, special, primary, or runoff 

9 election; 

10 (B) a convention or caucus of a political 

11 party held to nominate a candidate; 

12 (C) a primary election held for the selec13 tion of delegates to a national nominating con14 vention of a political party; or 

15 (D) a primary election held for the expres16 sion of a preference for the nomination of per17 sons for election to the office of President. 

18 (3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of19 fice’’ means the office of President or Vice President 

20 of the United States, or of Senator or Representa21 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 

22 the Congress of the United States. 

23 (4) PROBATION.—The term ‘‘probation’’ means 

24 probation, imposed by a Federal, State, or local 


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1 court, with or without a condition on the individual 

2 involved concerning— 

3 (A) the individual’s freedom of movement; 

4 (B) the payment of damages by the indi5 vidual; 

6 (C) periodic reporting by the individual to 

7 an officer of the court; or 

8 (D) supervision of the individual by an of9 ficer of the court. 

10 SEC. 7. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

11 (a) STATE LAWS RELATING TO VOTING RIGHTS.— 

12 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the 

13 States from enacting any State law which affords the right 

14 to vote in any election for Federal office on terms less 

15 restrictive than those established by this Act. 

16 (b) CERTAIN FEDERAL ACTS.—The rights and rem17 edies established by this Act are in addition to all other 

18 rights and remedies provided by law, and neither rights 

19 and remedies established by this Act shall supersede, re20 strict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights Act 

21 of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) or the National Voter 

22 Registration Act (52 U.S.C. 20501). 

23 SEC. 8. FEDERAL PRISON FUNDS. 

24 No State, unit of local government, or other person 

25 may receive or use, to construct or otherwise improve a 


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1 prison, jail, or other place of incarceration, any Federal 

2 funds unless that State, unit of local government, or per3 son— 

4 (1) is in compliance with section 3; and 

5 (2) has in effect a program under which each 

6 individual incarcerated in that person’s jurisdiction 

7 who is a citizen of the United States is notified, 

8 upon release from such incarceration, of that indi9 vidual’s rights under section 3. 

10 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

11 This Act shall apply to citizens of the United States 

12 voting in any election for Federal office held after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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